Real Estate and Community News for the Colorado Springs Area

Riches to Rags

I just watched another agent pack up their office for the last time and head off into the sunset of obscurity. Not by choice or was it? Having come from the corporate world I’m finding this commission arena one that baffles and yet intrigues me. I’m hearing the latest version of riches to rags too often and have to pause to question what choices were made to warrant this current phenomenon in our industry?

Yes these are tough times in the land of Real Estate and many agents are working harder for less reward, but how are experienced agents ending up in such dire straights as to be filing bankruptcy and leaving the industry? Did these seasoned agents not work during the good years just a few short years ago when deals were aplenty and the land of Real Estate was paved in Gold? Surely they heard the warnings of others to save for the downturns in the market. “This is a cyclical industry” as told by my instructors when I entered the field a few short years ago. Business fluctuations are a standard and one must live within a reasonable budget to survive.

Budget

As mentioned earlier I came from the corporate world. Salaries are fixed and one learns early on to intricately budget in order to adjust for life’s unexpected curve balls. It is still hard for me to fathom how one can be suffering the woes of bankruptcy when having had the luxury of 6 figure incomes for an extended period of time. Had the agents learned the age old lesson of storing up for the winter from our old friend the ant, they might not be packing and heading out to pasture but enjoying the rewards of longevity in an ever changing and rewarding industry.